Sunday Age 23 September 2012
Farah Tomazin reflects not just on the Victorian TAFE funding cuts but cuts to public education spending generally and concludes “these decisions not only erode public education, they hit the very people who are most at risk of not getting an education.” It is as Tomazin concludes a “disturbing trend”, particularly as similar cuts are now taking place in NSW and Queensland.
Most people knew the TAFE cuts were going to hurt but a leaked 86-page document – based on ”transition plans” showing how each institute might offset losses – revealed the damage would be much deeper than first thought.
Some TAFEs had told the government they wanted to sell assets, merge, or close key sites: proposals that would affect dozens of communities, from Prahran and Preston to Swifts Creek, Castlemaine and Ararat. Others would simply scrap courses or increase fees – in some cases, by more than 100% – or stop offering vocational programs to secondary school students
And the government’s defence mantra – “The changes are absolutely essential if we are to have vocational education and training on a sustainable footing” – “conveniently underplay” (we’d say ignore) the cause of the crisis in VET funding that has emerged since the former Brumby government provided open access to public funding.
Between 2008 and 2011, Victorian public TAFE enrolments grew by just 4%. Meanwhile, private training providers – many offering shonky courses at cutthroat prices – grew by a whopping 308%.
In other words, TAFE did not blow out the vocational budget, yet it is bearing the brunt of the cuts. As a result, thousands of people who need the system to find a decent job, upskill or counter entrenched disadvantage could suffer
There’s also a bigger issue at stake. In less than two years, the government has not just cut the TAFE system, it has also slugged the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, scrapped the School Start Bonus, reduced the education maintenance allowance for disadvantaged families, and removed Koori specialists, literacy coaches, and regional support in schools. These decisions not only erode public education, they hit the very people who are most at risk of not getting an education.
It’s a disturbing trend for a government that came to office promising a ”stronger, fairer” Victoria.
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